Research Projects

"Land-use land-cover (LULC) patterns significantly impact the structure and function of ecological communities, potentially leading to habitat degradation and a cascade effect, making ecosystems less resilient against climate change. The Himalayas, globally recognized biodiversity hotspots, are predicted to be the most affected areas under future climate change. To ensure successful landscape management practices and biodiversity conservation, empirical data on the impact of LULC on various aspects of an ecological community is needed. Traditional methods of studying community ecology involve extensive field observation, but stable-isotope analysis offers a time-efficient alternative that requires less manpower and provides comprehensive data on trophic interactions with fewer samples. The study aims to understand the avian community structure in the Himalayas with different levels of disturbances at different elevational gradients. It is expected that species' responses to LULC will vary as confounding factors vary. Feather samples collected from birds captured through mist-nets will be used to determine the species' isotopic composition, which is determined against a selected standard in a mass spectrometer. Carbon isotope ratios reflect the source of carbon at the base of the food web, while nitrogen isotope ratios reflect trophic position. Mean stable-isotope signatures of species/population can be used to infer various aspects of food web structure, such as trophic positions, relative contribution of prey items to consumers, niche shifts, and intraspecific diet variability. This study, the first of its kind in India, will assess the impact of LULC in the Himalayas and contribute to our understanding of bird species assemblages."

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